Materials Recycling Week
26 September 2008
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"Invaluable" community-led recycling projects get £3.5m
The Scottish Government has announced £3.5 million for community-led recycling projects under the Investment in Community Recycling and Social Enterprise (Increase III) funding programme.Scotlands Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead acknowledged the invaluable role the community sector has in helping Scotland hit its 2025 target to recycle 70% of its municipal waste. He said that this was why the money had been allocated.The money will support development of househo -
Alara Wholefoods are first zero waste food manufacturer in the UK
North London based muesli manufacturer, Alara Wholefoods, has managed to achieve what many firms are trying to achieve - it is the first food manufacturer in the UK to become a zero waste enterprise.The firm provides 60% of all organic muesli to the UK supermarkets and employs 60 people in Kings Cross, London.Managing director Alex Smith told MRW that all waste produced by the company is reused, composted or recycled. He said: We set up two goals three years a -
Audit Commission report gets mixed response from waste industry
The Audit Commissions report on waste has received a mixed response from the waste industry.Waste processing company Global Renewables has criticised the Audit Commission for suggesting that waste incinerators are the only means by which local authorities can avoid rising landfill costs.The We -
Audit Commission warns of tax hike unless councils deliver infrastructure
Council tax bills may increase and services may be cut if authorities do not deliver planned waste treatment facilities and keep up the pressure to reduce, reuse and recycle, according to a new Audit Commission report.Well Disposed: responding to the waste challenge, says the UK can meet European Union Landfill Directive targets to reduce the amount of waste landfilled by 2013 if the councils who have planned waste treatment facilities build them on time. Audit C -
AWS Eco Plastics invests £14m in new reprocessing plant
Plastics recycler AWS Eco Plastics has announced that its £14m new reprocessing centre is fully operational.The major upgrade to the plant at Hemswell, Lincolnshire, will quadruple its recycling capacity to 15 tonnes of plastic waste every hour 100,000 tonnes annually. Like the Closed Loop Recycling plant in Dagenham, east London, the facility will be able to make food grade recycled plastics.AWS chief executive Jonathan Short told MRW: The wheels have been set -
Barriers to building waste infrastructure remain, says LGA
Local authorities still face barriers to building waste infrastructure despite financial and political pressure to deliver them, according to Local Government Association chairman Paul Bettison.His comments came as a response to findings from the Audit Commission report Well Disposed: responding to the waste challenge. Bettison said: Local people and local councils deserve great credit for the steps that have been taken to increase our recycling rates. However, there r -
Cheshire's £1bn PFI deal will not be rushed
Media speculation that Cheshire County Council is rushing its £1bn private finance initiative decision to achieve early sign off has been denied by the authority.Council strategic manager (contract procurement) John Thistlewood told MRW that the authority was not under pressure to hurry the process up and that cutting the shortlist to two finalists by the end of the year had always been part of the plan. He said: The only pressure is coming from ourselves because the s -
Corus moves forward with packaging recycling
The rise in steel packaging recycling will lead to lower packaging recovery note (PRN) prices for the next three years, a new Corus report has found.In its new report, entitled, Moving forward in recycling, Corus highlights how it invested PRN funds in recycling schemes to help boost steel packaging rates to 69% in 2007. Investing in recycling schemes provides Corus with more steel packaging to use for steelmaking. The report says that steel recycling success -
EA gets tough on unlicensed waste operators
In its fight to crack down on those who operate illegal waste sites, the Environment Agency will use more sophisticated detective techniques including forensics, handwriting experts, crime mapping and legal powers.An Environment Agency spokeswoman said that those who operate illegal waste sites as a criminal activity were getting more sophisticated and said the EA needs to step up our efforts to tackle the criminals.The EA Board met on September 17 to discuss the issue -
Estate agents to help with recycling campaign
A London borough will encourage estate agents to inform people moving into new homes about local recycling operations.Hillingdon Borough Council, home to Heathrow airport, west London, is planning to launch this campaign to let new residents know what goes in different bags and what items they can recycle. Often when people move home they are not aware of how their new councils recycling scheme operates.A Hillingdon Borough Council spokeswoman said: We are launching a -
First EU lightweight alu can unveiled
The first lightweight aluminium drinks can in the EU, expected to change the design of drinks cans forever, has been unveiled.Lead designer Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and its partner the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) have produced a can that is 5% lighter than current designs.CCE said that the specification has set a new standard for the EU with major beverage brands and brewers already using the design. Previous weight reductions were made to the base of -
Formal consultation to shape pilot PAYT "recycling service"
A consultation to help define good recycling services as a precondition for pilot pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) schemes has been launched by the Government.Information gathered from this formal consultation will be used to shape guidance for local authorities wanting to implement a PAYT scheme. The guidance will be published when the Climate Change Bill has received Royal Assent and pilots could begin in April 2009.This formal call for views follows an earlier in -
Government calls in Sita's landfill plans
Sita UKs ambitions to get approval for an extension to its Northumberland being landfill site at Seghill have taken a further knock with its proposals being blocked.The Government Office for the North East (GONE), a part of central Government that advises the Secretary of State, called-in the planning application on September 20 and Sita has expressed disappointment at this situation. The call-in means that it has moved out of the hands of the local authority to the pl -
Ireland's "first" closed loop plastic plant opens
The first closed loop plastics recycling facility in Ireland has been heralded as a perfect example of the countrys potential to develop marketable environmental processes.Technology for closed loop processing of HDPE and PET was developed by the Shabra Group which invested 3.7million euros to extend its existing LDPE plant in Castleblayney in County Monaghan. The plant was opened by Irish Government Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Michael Martin. He said -
New Earth launches renewable energy business
Dorset-based New Earth Solutions (NES) has launched a new renewable energy business to complement its mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facilities.The firm will initially be looking at turning some of the municipal waste it gets into green energy to power its sites and strengthen the services it can offer to public and commercial customers.Commercial director Peter Mills told MRW that after all materials are recovered for recycling the firm will look at us -
Offices targeted to go green at lunchtime
UK businesses are being urged to get greener in the workplace by recycling their employees lunchtime food packaging waste.Plastic Bottles company Closed Loop Recycling will be working with Marks & Spencer and Solo Cup Europe, manufacturer of single use packaging, to give companies the opportunity to recycle the tonnes of sandwich wrappers, soft drinks bottles and salad trays that are thrown in general waste bins every day. Paper and cardboard will also be collected.The ca -
Philips joins the Veolia WEEE compliance scheme
One of the largest electrical companies in the world, Philips, has joined Veolia Environmental Services Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) compliance scheme in a push to further increase recycling and landfill diversion in the UK.Up until now Philips had only backed the Repic producer compliance scheme (PCS). Philips UK environmental manager Geoff Train said: As a global company, Philips is committed to meeting its legal responsibilities everywhere it operat -
Plasterboard landfill targets revised after early achievement
The early achievement of 2010 targets to reduce plasterboard sent to landfill under the Ashdown Agreement has led to the targets being revised.UK plasterboard manufacturers reduced the production waste sent to landfill to 6,000 tonnes in the first year since the agreement was signed in March 2007. This result beats the 2010 target to only send 10,000 tonnes of manufacturers production waste to landfill by nearly half. So the target has been revised down to 7,500 tonnes a year by 2 -
RWM is the leading showcase for green enterprise
This years Recycling & Waste Management Exhibition attracted more visitors and exhibitors than ever before.Initial figures show that 9,028 people descended on the Birmingham NEC to visit the show from September 16 to 18. This is still subject to ABC audit. This represents a 12.4% increase on the record attendance figures achieved for RWM 2007. Stand space was sold out with 500 exhibitors and over two thirds have re-booked for 2009.Exhibiting at the RWM show, Mailbox Mo -
Sims Group buys Hartlepool-based metal recycler
In its latest efforts to expand its geographical reach, metal recycling company Sims Group UK has acquired C.Herring and Son, a Hartlepool-based metal recycler.Sims hopes to expand its presence in the north east of England. It follows on from the firms recent purchases of other metal recyclers in the Midlands including ER Coley, Evans and Mondon.C.Herring and Son is a well established family-owned business that employs 22 people and operates from a six acre site, which al -
Sita backs Audit Commission report
Waste management firm Sita UK has backed the Audit Commissions report calling for more energy-from-waste (EfW) plants to be built if local councils are to avoid expensive fines.The Audit Commission report warned that local councils could face fines totalling millions of pounds unless they deliver planned waste treatment facilities and keep up the pressure to reduce, reuse and recycle. Regional bosses from Sita have supported the report. The firm operates an EfW plant a -
West Sussex names Biffa as preferred bidder
Biffa has been announced as the preferred bidder for a £1 billion waste treatment contract with West Sussex County Council (WSCC) much to Viridors disappointment.The 25-year deal is expected to create 80 jobs and will see Biffa develop a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility to recover value from around 300,000 tonnes of residual waste. The plant will be built at Biffas current landfill site in Warnham, near Horsham.Viridor went head-to-head with Biffa to compete -
WRAP backs weekly food collections
Separate weekly collections are the most effective way of diverting food waste from landfill and it is best treated via anaerobic digestion (AD) according to the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Bringing together those interested in setting up food waste collection schemes and those wanting to build AD facilities will be the next step, WRAP director for local government services Phillip Ward told MRW.The best option is for food waste to go to AD - th -
WRAP tackles construction waste
An October date has been set for the launch of the construction industrys own Courtauld Commitment.The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) led voluntary agreement will reveal the strength of support for reducing waste in the sector on October 16.Work on the agreement has been underway for some time and was originally disclosed in April just after the announcement of the Utilities Industry Agreement to reduce waste.WRAP head of construction Mike Watson told
